In the evolving world of digital advertising, understanding how to effectively use Meta Ads (formerly Facebook Ads) is crucial for any marketing agency. However, many agencies still fall into common pitfalls that hinder ad performance and waste budget.
Here are 5 red flags indicating your agency might not be fully grasping the nuances of Meta Ads.
1. Running Ads Not Optimized for Your End Goal
If your agency is not optimizing ads for your specific end goals, you’re likely missing out. For instance, conversion-optimized campaigns can yield up to 71% lower costs per purchase compared to Link Click Optimized campaigns.
When optimizing for upper-funnel events like add-to-carts or email captures, beware of false positives. These metrics might look impressive but often attract window shoppers or low-quality leads, not genuine customers. This can become even more exacerbated without refined targeting.
2. Using Interest Targeting
If your agency is leveraging interest targeting in any capacity, you are likely leaving cheaper conversions on the table.
Broad targeting has been found to outperform interest-based targeting, delivering +16% better CPAs.
During my tenure at Facebook, one of my initial actions with each ad account I managed was to steer them away from interest targeting. The reason for this shift? Interest targeting narrowed the pool of potential viewers for your ad, whereas broad targeting proved more effective due to the pixel’s conversion optimization capabilities.
Broad targeting was so successful that Meta transitioned advertisers who used interest targeting to new programs that didn’t restrict them to such narrow parameters. Now when interest targeting is employed, the system automatically widens its reach to include more users.
Therefore, if you were to target multiple different interest groups, you would essentially be fragmenting your budget significantly, thereby diminishing your campaign’s performance. This is because you wouldn’t be fully utilizing Meta’s powerful machine learning and optimization capabilities inherent in its advertising signal.
3. Not Exiting the Learning Phase
An agency incorporating too many ad sets is a surefire way to drive worse performance.
Instead of optimizing for people who will convert on your ads, your account is relegated to the Learning Phase, a period of worse performance and higher volatility.
Advertisers with ~20% of spend in Learning Phase see +17% conversions and -15% CPA vs. advertisers with ~80% of spend in Learning Phase.
To efficiently move beyond the Learning Phase, an ad set requires about 50 optimization events within a 7-day period. Therefore, it’s essential to allocate a budget that supports these 50 optimization events in a week. Setting a budget that is either too low or excessively high can mislead the delivery system regarding the optimal audience for your ads.
Another significant factor preventing ad sets from exiting the Learning Phase is the volume of ad sets. Running too many ad sets simultaneously leads to less frequent delivery for each set. As a result, fewer ad sets complete the Learning Phase, and more of the budget is consumed before the delivery system can optimize performance effectively. A practical approach to mitigate this issue is to simplify your account by consolidating ad sets. This consolidation not only streamlines the number of ad sets but also merges their delivery learnings, enhancing ad performance.
Should your ad set fail to accumulate sufficient optimization events to exit the Learning Phase, the status in the Delivery column will display “Learning limited.”
4. Spending Too Much on Retargeting
Overinvesting in retargeting can lead to spending that doesn’t incrementally contribute to sales. This is often indicated by high frequencies of ad exposure over short periods, which may suggest either wasteful spending or targeting too small an audience. On most advertising platforms, retargeting campaigns appear highly effective, boasting high conversion rates and low Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), seemingly driving both new and existing customers to make purchases.
However, it’s important to understand why this might be the case. Retargeting ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram target users who have already demonstrated significant interest in your product. Therefore, these ads might not be the sole reason for their conversion. Rather, they could simply be one of the steps in a conversion journey that would have occurred even without the ads.
Despite this, retargeting often receives a large share of digital advertising budgets due to its seemingly impressive performance metrics. It’s crucial to assess whether your investment in retargeting is genuinely driving additional value or merely capitalizing on conversions that would have happened anyway. Carefully evaluating your retargeting spend is essential to achieving a more effective Return on Investment (ROI).
5. Taking Credit for Sales That Would Have Happened Anyway
Agencies must critically assess ad reporting.
A high percentage of view-based conversions could suggest that Meta is incorrectly attributing conversions to ads when these conversions might have occurred regardless. It’s crucial to critically assess your ad reporting to ensure it reflects logical and effective marketing outcomes. For instance, you may notice your ads are apparently successful in driving conversions, yet there is a lack of direct interaction, such as clicks, with your ads. While view-based conversions can be significant, an excessively high rate of such conversions could indicate that your ads aren’t actually driving incremental sales.
When a user sees an ad but doesn’t click on it, yet still makes a purchase, it might suggest that the user would have converted without seeing the ad. In these instances, Meta’s system might imply that the ad caused the conversion, but it is more likely to be a correlation rather than a causation. This scenario is particularly common with audiences lower in the sales funnel, such as site visitors or existing customers, who are often targets of retargeting campaigns.
Conclusion
In summary, navigating the complexities of Meta Ads requires a nuanced approach. By avoiding these common pitfalls, your agency can optimize ad spend, reach the right audience, and drive meaningful conversions. If you recognize these red flags in your agency’s approach, it might be time for a strategy overhaul.
Thankfully, we can help.
Reach out to us for a free audit of your Meta ad account. Our team of experts will provide a comprehensive review and insights to ensure your advertising strategy is on the right track. Don’t let these common mistakes hinder your success. Contact us today for your free audit and take the first step towards optimizing your Meta advertising strategy!
The post 5 Red Flags Your Agency Doesn’t Understand Meta Ads appeared first on Disruptive Digital.